Making Selections – by Jason Mills

August 13, 2014

Give me numbers and statistics and I’ll be as happy as a pig in slop, but give me a page with long words to read and I’m usually bored silly. As you can probably tell English literature was not my favourite subject at school, but occasionally I will read something of literary acclaim.

One of those rare moments came when I was shown a poem by Rudyard Kipling, simply called “IF” and If you’ve never read it yourself, then I highly recommend a perusal.

http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_if.htm

“IF you can meet with Triumph and Disaster”
“And treat those two impostors just the same;”

As strange as it may seem, those lines in the poem can, and should, be applied to your betting in a number of different ways. Meet with triumph and disaster ( in regards to your results ) just the same …. by staying focussed, not being distracted away from your methods, not doubting yourself, and not making rash bets as a result of a run either way.

Another area it can be applied is that of actual bet selection. One of the keys to success is that EVERY bet needs to be balanced, or analysed from a neutral perspective.

If you have a certain bias or a pre-conceived idea about a match, a player, or a team then you’re in trouble to start with. Yes a certain team could be on a great run of form, and its good information to use, but how does that relate to the next match? A team may have won 10 games on the trot, but if a number of key players are injured or the squad has been rotated, with a number of reserves being given a run out, the situation then changes and needs to be accounted for.

Personally, and this is just my approach, I try to view things as a court would view a criminal trial. I start with a blank canvas and then I will look at the case for the prosecution, and then I’ll look at the case for the defence, ONLY then can you make a balanced judgement.

If you want to improve your own personal betting try this as a starting point, and I’m certain it will help you – Jason Mills.